Joshua 24:27

 Joshua 24:27 

And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.

a. NASB 2020:  Then Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, because it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us; so it shall be a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God.”   [NASB20] New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation; All Rights Reserved]

b. YLT: And Joshua saith unto all the people, 'Lo, this stone is against us for a witness, for it hath heard all the sayings of Jehovah which He hath spoken with us, and it hath been against you for a witness, lest ye lie against your God.'  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: And Joshua said to all the people, See, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the Lord spoke to us; so it shall be a witness against you, lest [afterward] you lie (pretend) and deny your God.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Rubin Edition: The Early Prophets: Joshua & Judges: And Joshua declared to declared to all the people, “Behold, this stone will be a witness for us, for it has heard all the words of HASHEM that he has spoken to us; it will be a witness against you if you ever deny your God.   [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES ®️ /RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: JOSHUA/ JUDGES ⓒ Copyright 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV:  And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the LORD that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.”  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

1. “And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us…” 

a. [And] Joshua [Strong: 3091 Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ, yeh-ho-shoo'-ah; or יְהוֹשֻׁעַ Yᵉhôwshuʻa; from H3068 and H3467; Jehovah-saved; Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the Jewish leader:—Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Joshua.]

b. said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

c. unto [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but used only in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel, el); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because (-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in (-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to (-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with (-in).]

d. all [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

e. [the] people [Strong: 5971 ʻam, am; from H6004; a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:—folk, men, nation, people.]

f. Behold [Strong: 2009 hinnêh, hin-nay'; prolongation for H2005; lo!:—behold, lo, see.]

g. this [Strong: 2063 zôʼth, zothe'; irregular feminine of H2088; this (often used adverb):—hereby (-in, -with), it, likewise, the one (other, same), she, so (much), such (deed), that, therefore, these, this (thing), thus.]

h. stone [Strong: 68 ʼeben, eh'-ben; from the root of H1129 through the meaning to build; a stone:— carbuncle, mason, plummet, (chalk-, hail-, head-, sling-) stone(-ny), (divers) weight(-s).]

i. [shall] be [Strong: 1961 hâyâh, haw-yaw; a primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):—beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.]

j. [a] witness [unto us]  [Strong: 5713 ʻêdâh, ay-daw'; feminine of H5707 in its techn. sense; testimony:—testimony, witness.]

k. for [Strong: 3588 kîy, kee; a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed:—and, (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), but, certainly, doubtless, else, even, except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, (al-) though, till, truly, until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.]

l. it [Strong: 1931 hûwʼ, hoo; of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is הִיא hîyʼ; he a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular; he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are:—he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.]

m. [hath] heard [Strong: 8085 shâmaʻ, shaw-mah'; a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):—× attentively, call (gather) together, × carefully, × certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, × diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), × indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, × surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.]

n. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

o. all [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

p. [the] words [Strong: 561 ʼêmer, ay'-mer; from H559; something said:—answer, × appointed unto him, saying, speech, word.]

q. [of the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

r. which [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

s. [he] spake [Strong: 1696 dâbar, daw-bar'; a primitive root; perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue:—answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.]

t. unto [us] [Strong: 5973 ʻim, eem; from H6004; adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English):—accompanying, against, and, as (× long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-) to, with(-al).]

1). An interesting choice of words in light of what jesus told the Jewish religious leaders as he came into Jerusalem.

a). Luke 19:39, 40  39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

2. “...it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.”

a. [it shall] be [therefore [Strong: 1961 hâyâh, haw-yaw; a primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):—beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.]

b. [a] witness [Strong: 5713 ʻêdâh, ay-daw'; feminine of H5707 in its techn. sense; testimony:—testimony, witness.]

c. [unto] you [Strong: 859 ʼattâh, at-taw'; or (shortened); אַתָּ ʼattâ at-taw'; or אַת° ʼath, ath; feminine (irregular) sometimes אַתִּי ʼattîy, at-tee'; plural masculine אַתֶּם ʼattem, at-tem'; feminine אַתֶּן ʼatten, at-ten'; or אַתֵּנָה ʼattênâh, at-tay'-naw; or אַתֵּנָּה ʼattênnâh, at-tane'-naw; a primitive pronoun of the second person; thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you:—thee, thou, ye, you.]

d. lest [Strong: 6435 pên, pane; from H6437; properly, removal; used only (in the construction) adverb as conjunction, lest:—(lest) (peradventure), that...not.]

e. [ye] deny [Strong: 3584 kâchash, kaw-khash'; a primitive root; to be untrue, in word (to lie, feign, disown) or deed (to disappoint, fail, cringe):—deceive, deny, dissemble, fail, deal falsely, be found liars, (be-) lie, lying, submit selves.]

f. [your] God [Strong: 430 ʼĕlôhîym, el-o-heem'; plural of H433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.]

1). Have archaeologists discovered Joshua’s Massabah or standing stone?

written by Dean Smith 9/20/2023 Joshua’s massabah which was set up at Shechem.

Credit: Daniel Ventura, Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Archaeologists working at the site of the ancient city of Shechem believe they have discovered the large stone or Massabah that Joshua ordered to be set up as part of Israel’s covenant to Jehovah: Joshua 24:25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.” (Joshua 24:25-26 NASV). As noted in this passage, the stone was set up under an oak, near the “sanctuary of the Lord.” During their work at Shechem, archaeologists found a large limestone rock located in the courtyard of an ancient temple, the Temple of Baal-berith, which is mentioned in Judges 9:4, 46.

The temple was 86 feet (ca. 26 m) long and 70 feet (ca. 21 m) wide and its foundation wall was 17 feet (ca. 5 m) thick. It also had two large towers at its entrance. The massive stone, which is now broken, was thought to have stood nearly 6.6 feet (ca. 2 m) tall and was discovered in the courtyard in front of the entrance to the temple. It is believed that this temple was probably taken over by Israel when they conquered the Promised Land and turned it into a “Sanctuary of the Lord.” This is probably the very stone that Joshua ordered to be set up at the site. It would have been the same stone or pillar where Abimelech was crowned king mentioned in Judges 9:6. We are also told that Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, went to Shechem to be anointed king on his father’s death (1 Kings 12:1). Though not specifically mentioned, it may have been done by this stone.